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News December 22, 2009 Colleges must play proactive role in public education By Patriot-News Op-Ed December 22, 2009, 9:25AM James T. Harris III President, Widener University The American education system for too long has been a house divided between K-12 education and higher education. Beyond the traditional role of colleges and universities to train teachers for the K-12 ranks, there is little interaction between the two. The time has come for that to change. In a recent address, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan urged colleges and universities to become more involved in improving underperforming schools, encouraging universities to form partnerships with local school districts, improve teacher education and even consider establishing their own charter schools. Secretary Duncan is not the first person to identify a greater role for colleges and universities in K-12 education. At the turn of the 20th century, William Rainey Harper, the first president of the University of Chicago, identified the urban “Great University” as the most strategic-organizational innovation of modern society. He emphasized the university’s central role in shaping the schooling system because of its power and prestige and its role in educating teachers. The need for colleges and universities to help shape the schooling system is just as important today as it was in Harper’s time, yet most institutions remain steadfast to their traditional roles of teacher training and student volunteering. Too few institutions are willing to create partnerships with school districts that test long held assumptions about public education. Fortunately, there are a rising number of partnerships between school districts and institutions of higher learning that go beyond the traditional boundaries. These partnerships have created community schools that engage multiple stakeholders in the process of educating children, expanding resources and attacking the roots of poverty. By investing deeply in troubled school districts, these institutions are moving beyond self-interest and developing a modern version of Harper’s “Great University” model. In fall 2006, Widener University in Chester opened the Widener Partnership Charter School, the state’s first university-based charter school in the state’s lowest performing school district. Emphasizing the holistic education of the child, the core curriculum is supplemented by music, art, drama, physical education and foreign language instruction. The school also offers programming focused on the social and emotional development of students. The hallmark, however, is the partnership that the school makes with parents and caregivers that lets them be intensely and productively engaged in their child’s educational experience. In just three years, the school has had a tremendous impact on the community that it serves and on the university. Parents who had lost faith in the city’s public school system now see hope for the future of their children. Students have more confidence and truly believe that they can be the “world-changers” that they are taught they can be. The bottom line, however, is in academic achievement. On the Pennsylvania State System of Assessment test, Widener Partnership Charter School students far exceeded the local school district average, the state’s pre-established standards and the requirements established in the “No Child Left Behind” legislation. For Widener students, the charter school provides a wealth of experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students not only in education, but also in social work, clinical psychology and even physical therapy. Some students also have been hired by the charter school after graduation. For Widener faculty, the school provides a wealth of opportunities for research across a myriad of disciplines. Most importantly, we believe that the model for the Widener Partnership Charter School can be replicated, providing an opportunity for other colleges and universities to improve the education opportunities for the youth in their communities, promote democratic partnerships and help prepare college students for their roles as responsible citizens. If we are to build resiliency into communities nationwide to dampen the impact of economic downturns and the effects of poverty, our colleges and universities must play a proactive role, starting with public education. We can no longer view ourselves as ivory towers removed from the harsh realities outside our doors, but as full participants in our democracy. Not every college and university could or should establish its own charter school, but we can all examine the role that we are playing and become active partners with our school districts in improving education. The future of our nation depends on it.

News
December 22, 2009

Colleges must play proactive role in public education
By Patriot-News Op-Ed
December 22, 2009, 9:25AM
James T. Harris III
President, Widener University

The American education system for too long has been a house divided between K-12 education and higher education.

Beyond the traditional role of colleges and universities to train teachers for the K-12 ranks, there is little interaction between the two.

The time has come for that to change.

In a recent address, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan urged colleges and universities to become more involved in improving underperforming schools, encouraging universities to form partnerships with local school districts, improve teacher education and even consider establishing their own charter schools.

Secretary Duncan is not the first person to identify a greater role for colleges and universities in K-12 education.

At the turn of the 20th century, William Rainey Harper, the first president of the University of Chicago, identified the urban “Great University” as the most strategic-organizational innovation of modern society. He emphasized the university’s central role in shaping the schooling system because of its power and prestige and its role in educating teachers.

The need for colleges and universities to help shape the schooling system is just as important today as it was in Harper’s time, yet most institutions remain steadfast to their traditional roles of teacher training and student volunteering. Too few institutions are willing to create partnerships with school districts that test long held assumptions about public education.

Fortunately, there are a rising number of partnerships between school districts and institutions of higher learning that go beyond the traditional boundaries. These partnerships have created community schools that engage multiple stakeholders in the process of educating children, expanding resources and attacking the roots of poverty.

By investing deeply in troubled school districts, these institutions are moving beyond self-interest and developing a modern version of Harper’s “Great University” model.

In fall 2006, Widener University in Chester opened the Widener Partnership Charter School, the state’s first university-based charter school in the state’s lowest performing school district. Emphasizing the holistic education of the child, the core curriculum is supplemented by music, art, drama, physical education and foreign language instruction.

The school also offers programming focused on the social and emotional development of students. The hallmark, however, is the partnership that the school makes with parents and caregivers that lets them be intensely and productively engaged in their child’s educational experience.

In just three years, the school has had a tremendous impact on the community that it serves and on the university. Parents who had lost faith in the city’s public school system now see hope for the future of their children.

Students have more confidence and truly believe that they can be the “world-changers” that they are taught they can be. The bottom line, however, is in academic achievement.

On the Pennsylvania State System of Assessment test, Widener Partnership Charter School students far exceeded the local school district average, the state’s pre-established standards and the requirements established in the “No Child Left Behind” legislation.

For Widener students, the charter school provides a wealth of experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students not only in education, but also in social work, clinical psychology and even physical therapy. Some students also have been hired by the charter school after graduation. For Widener faculty, the school provides a wealth of opportunities for research across a myriad of disciplines.

Most importantly, we believe that the model for the Widener Partnership Charter School can be replicated, providing an opportunity for other colleges and universities to improve the education opportunities for the youth in their communities, promote democratic partnerships and help prepare college students for their roles as responsible citizens.

If we are to build resiliency into communities nationwide to dampen the impact of economic downturns and the effects of poverty, our colleges and universities must play a proactive role, starting with public education. We can no longer view ourselves as ivory towers removed from the harsh realities outside our doors, but as full participants in our democracy.

Not every college and university could or should establish its own charter school, but we can all examine the role that we are playing and become active partners with our school districts in improving education.

The future of our nation depends on it.